Books on Race and Social Justice: Recommendations from the Birmingham Public Library Staff
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| Avondale Regional Library has seen lots of requests for books from parents desiring to teach their children about race. |
Staff the Birmingham Public Library have responded to patrons' questions by giving recommendations of good books that help educate the public about racism and social injustice.
Among the books BPL employees have been recommending to patrons is "Dear Martin," a bestselling fiction novel bout the fallout of an unarmed black teen fatally shot by a police officer. The book is written by Atlanta author Nic Stone, who in January 2020 held a book talk/book signing at the Central Library celebrating the release of her new young adult novel, “Clean Getaway.”
Stone, in response the Floyd shooting, recently on Good Morning America shared a list of 10 books that celebrate black lives.
Gus Jones, head of the Central Library Fiction Department, recommended nearly two dozen books, including “I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness”, “The New Jim Crow”,
“So You Want to Talk About Race” and “Some of My Best Friends are Black”
Here are dozens the books and websites on race and social justice BPL staffers recommend to patrons:
Children’s books on race from Avondale Regional Library Youth Department
* “Skin Again” by Bell Hooks
* “Nya’s Long Walk” by Linda Sue Park and Brian Pinkney
* “Red” by Jan De Kinder
* “My Colors, My World – Mis Colores, Mi Mundo” by Mya Christina Gonzalez
* “I Can Make a Difference” by Marian Wright Edelman
* “I Am Enough” by Grace Byers
From Yolanda Hardy, BPL Regional Manager:
* “Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption” by Bryan Stevenson. This 2015 book by the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery was recently made into the hit movie “Just Mercy” .
* “The Sun Does Shine” by Anthony Ray Hinton. Released in 2018 after spending 30 years in prison for a murder he did not commit, Hinton held a talk/book signing in April 2019 at North Avondale Branch Library
* “Unity, Kindness Peace”- This booklist was created by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) to share the message of creating unity, acting with kindness toward others, and promoting peace.
* “The NINSTOY Social Justice Book List,” August 2017. This link has books on the topic of social justice.
* Social Justice: Fifteen titles to address inequality, equality and organizing for young readers- School Library Journal. With leaders like Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai, youth are making themselves heard. These titles elevate the voices of young activists, inspire calls to action, and explain complex issues such a racism, sexism, environmentalism and immigration.
10 Books to Nurture Budding Activists: Summer Reading 2020- These recommendations are from the School Library Journal.
From Gus Jones, BPL Central Library Fiction Department Head
* “Bending Toward Justice” by Doug Jones
* “Democracy in Black” by Eddie Glaude
* “America's Original Sin” by Jim Wallis
* “Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality” by Thomas Sowell
* “The Class of '65” by Jim Auchmutey
* “The Color of Law” by Richard Rothstein
* “Dear Martin” by Nic Stone
* “The Fire This Time: A New Generation Speaks About Race” by Jesmyn Ward, editor.
* “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas
* “How To Be An Antiracist” by Ibram Kendi
* “I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness” by Austin Brown
* “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander
* “So You Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo
* “Some of My Best Friends are Black” by Tanner Colby
*“Tears We Cannot Stop” by Michael Eric Dyson
*“Under Our Skin” by Benjamin Watson
* “Uprooting Racism: How White People can Work for Racial Justice” by Paul Kivel
* “White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism” by Robin DiAngelo
* “White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide” by Carol Anderson
* “Why Are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria” by Beverly Tatum
From Russell Lee, Library Assistant III in Central Library Arts/Literature/Sports Department
* “The Souls of Black Folk” by W.E.B. Dubois
* “The Sound of Freedom: Marian Anderson, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Concert That Awakened America” - Raymond Arsenault
* “Beloved” by Toni Morrison
* “Fences” by August Wilson
* “In Search of Our Mother's Gardens” by Alice Walker
* “Race Matters” by Cornell West
* “The Fire Next Time” by James Baldwin
From Mary Beth Newbill, Department head of Southern History Department
* “Slavery by Another Name : The Re-enslavement of Black people in America from the Civil War to World War II” by Douglas A. Blackmon
From Jim Baggett, Head of the Birmingham Public Library Archives Department, which has several artifacts from the civil rights movement
* “Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, the Climactic Battle of the Civil Rights Revolution” by Diane McWhorter
* "Dixie's Daughters: The United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Preservation of Confederate Culture" by Karen L. Cox-Wonder why so many Confederate monuments exist in the South? Baggett says read this book to find out.
From Reba Williams, Library Assistant III at Smithfield Library
* Young adult fiction social justice link ttps://socialjusticebooks.org/booklists/young-adult-fiction/
* Social justice link https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/social-justice
* Race and social just kids books link http://www.act4socialjustice.com/awesome-social-justice-books-kids/#Race
From Jim Murray, Department Head of Central Library Business/Science/Technology/Sports Department
* "How to be an Antiracist" by Ibram X. Kendi
* “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
* “Me and White Supremacy : Combat Racism, Change the world, and Become a Good Ancestor” by Layla F. Saad
* “My Vanishing Country : A Memoir” by Bakari Sellers
* “Becoming” by Michelle Obama
* “Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women that a Movement Forgot” by Mikki Kendall
* The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” by Michelle Alexander
* “I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness” by Austin Channing Brown
* "So You Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo
* "Raising White Kids: Bringing up Children in a Racially Unjust America” by Jennifer Harvey, PhD
* “Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think and Do” by Jennifer L. Eberhardt, PhD
* “Sister Outsider” by Audre Lorde; foreword by Mahogany L. Browne
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